Stars News

Texas Stars Weekly (Week 5)

Week 4 Recap:The Texas Stars had just one game in Week 4, an uncharacteristically light schedule that occurs only twice during the entire 2012-13 season. They squad hosted the Grand Rapids Griffins for a Saturday night contest at Cedar Park Center as they looked to win their second home game in a row. However, the Griffins continued an amazing early season trend, by scoring first at 3:08 of the opening frame from defenseman Adam Almquist; Grand Rapids has scored first in eight of their first ten games this year. Right wing Colton Sceviour suffered an injury during the first period of Texas’ first preseason game and missed the entire month of October. Playing in his first game of the season, Sceviour struck back to tie the game ten minutes later. But the Griffins retook the lead on a quick response from Joakim Andersson who scored 1:39 after Sceviours goal to put the visitors back up 2-1. Grand Rapids got a power play goal early in the second period from Almquist to take a two-goal lead and then added a fourth goal from Gustav Nyquist with four minutes left in the third period to cap of the scoring.

Texas out-shot the Griffins 15-7 in the first period, but trailed on the scoreboard 2-1; the shots were more even the remainder of the game, with the hosts holding a 30-27 edge at the end of play. Grand Rapids received a stellar goaltending performance from rookie Petr Mrazek, who stopped 29-of-30 shots in his American Hockey League debut to record his first career AHL victory. Mrazek was a big reason why the Stars went 0-for-7 on the power play and also why Texas’ comeback fell short.

Week 5 Preview:

After only playing three games in the past two weeks, the Stars amplify their schedule with their second three-in-three block of the season. Friday night, November 9th at 7:30 pm they host the Toronto Marlies for their only visit to Cedar Park Center this year. Saturday, November 10th the Lake Erie Monsters return for their second meeting with the Stars at 7:00 pm. Texas will finish off the weekend with a Sunday road trip to Houston for a 5:05 pm faceoff with the Aeros at Toyota Center.

This weekend is Stars & Stripes Military Appreciation Weekend presented by Sport Clips. The team will be wearing special Stars & Stripes jerseys for both Friday and Saturday night’s games and the jerseys will be auctioned off via silent auction with the proceeds going to the Texas Stars Foundation. Also on Saturday is the Stars & Stripes Hat giveaway presented by Sport Clips; fans are encouraged to arrive early as supplies are limited.

Team Notes: The Marlies are the defending Western Conference Champions, but have not yet won consecutive games this season. Toronto is currently in the middle of an eight-game road stretch that keeps them away from home for almost one full month; the team’s last home game was on October 21st and the Marlies won’t return to Ricoh Coliseum until November 17th. Last week Toronto lost 3-0 and 4-2 in a weekend trip to Abbotsford. This week the Marlies face the Texas Triangle; at Houston on Thursday night, in Cedar Park on Friday and at San Antonio on Saturday. Toronto ranks 26th in the AHL in power play percentage with a 8.9% (5-for-56) and are tied for 22nd in the league in penalty kill at 78.9% (30-for-38). This is the only visit by the Marlies to the Cedar Park Center this year; the Stars will travel to Toronto Sunday, February 10th.

Who’s Hot: Keith Aucoin (C) – Leads the team in points and assists and has six assists and an even rating in his last five games played. Greg McKegg (LW) – Has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) and a +1 rating in his last five games played. Joe Colborne (C) – Has three assists and a team-leading +3 rating in his last four games played.

Saturday, November 10 – 7:00 pm – Cedar Park Center – Cedar Park, TX

vs. Lake Erie Monsters (7-4-0-0, 14 pts)

Tied-First Place, North Division

Team Notes: The Monsters are off to a strong start in 2012-13, currently level on points with Abbotsford for first place in the North Division, however they have a lower winning percentage with two more games played. Last week Lake Erie had a three-in-three road trip, beating Peoria 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday, winning 2-1 at Milwaukee on Friday and losing to Rockford 6-3 on Saturday. This week the Monsters continue a seven-game road stretch with two games in Texas; they play at Houston on Friday night before returning to Cedar Park on Saturday. Lake Erie is currently 10th in the AHL with a 20.4% power play percentage (11-for-54) and tied for 12th in penalty kill at 85.0% (51-for-60). With 60 power plays against, the Monsters have allowed the second most man-advantages against in the AHL

Who’s Hot: Bryan Lerg (LW) – Leads the team in goals and has three goals in his last four games played. Tyson Barrie (D) – Leads the team in points and has five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in his last five games played. Mike Sgarbossa (C) – Ranks second on the team in points and has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in his last five games

Sunday, November 11 – 5:05 pm – Toyota Center – Houston, TX

@ Houston Aeros (5-3-1-1, 12 pts)

Second Place, South Division

Team Notes: Houston lost their first two games of the regular season, but has only lost once in regulation since, posting a 5-1-1-1 record in their last eight games. Last week the Aeros lost 4-3 at Oklahoma City on Friday night, beat the Barons 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday and then returned home on Sunday where they lost to Grand Rapids in a shootout 2-1. Last Friday’s game in Oklahoma was rough on Houston as they lost two of their top prospects to injury. Leading scoring Mikael Granlund suffered a lateral right ankle sprain and will miss two to four weeks, while defenseman Jonas Brodin broke his clavicle as a result of a third period hit by Barons’ forward Taylor Hall; Brodin will be out at least eight weeks. The Aeros have the 4th best power play in the AHL with a 23.9% success rate (11-for-46) and their penalty kill ranks 18th at 80.6% (29-for-36).

Who’s Hot: Brian Connelly (D) – Ranks second on the in points and has six points (1 goal, 5 assists) and a +5 rating in his five games played. Charlie Coyle (RW) – Leads the team goals and has five points (4 goals, 1 assist) and a +1 rating in his last five games played. Justin Fontaine (RW) – Has five points (2 goals, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in his last five games played.

Week 4 Game Results:

November 3, 2012 Grand Rapids 4 @ Texas 1

Stars Player of the Week: (Week 4)

Colton Sceviour – RW – #7 1 GP, 1 point (1 G, 0 A), Even, 0 PIMs

Right wing Colton Sceviour gave the Stars a boost in Week 4, returning from injury to score his first goal of the season. The Red Deer, Alberta native suffered a broken hand during Texas’ first preseason game on October 3rd vs. Houston and missed the start of the regular season. Exactly one month later, Sceviour made his season debut against Grand Rapids and scored midway through the first period to tie the game at 1-1. In 233 career AHL games for the Stars he has 126 points (47 goals, 79 assists); he has also played in one NHL game with the Dallas Stars.

Stars Quick Hits:

STARS NOTABLES:WEEK 5

·SEASON DEBUTS – Colton Sceviour and Scott Glennie each made their first appearances of the regular season for Texas on Saturday night against Grand Rapids. The two have played a combined 308 career games for the Stars.

·SURPRISING DISPARITY – Texas is one of three AHL teams that has a shots on goal differential of +40 or greater; the other two clubs are Providence (+48) and Albany (+44). Defying logic, all three have negative goal differentials: Texas is -11, while Albany and Providence are both -5.

·SHORT WEEK – The Stars had only one game during Week 4, their lightest game schedule of the season. Texas has one more single-game week on the calendar in Week 17, which also features the AHL All-Star Break. In Week 17 the Stars will play just one road game at Houston on Friday, February 1st.

·SIBLING RIVARLY – Rookie left wing Reilly Smith faced his older brother Brendan Smith on Saturday night as the Stars hosted the Grand Rapids Griffins. It was the first time the two have played against each other as professionals. Brendan, 23, is two years older than Reilly and is in his third year as a pro. Both brothers made their NHL debuts during the 2011-12 season, Reilly played three games for the Dallas Stars and Brendan notched 14 games for the Detroit Red Wings.

·STREAK SNAPPED – Cam Barker had his four-game penalty minute streak snapped on Saturday against the Griffins. Barker’s streak, which accumulated 16 PIMs over that span, is the longest by a Stars player this season. The longest PIMs streak in the AHL so far this season is six games, done by three different players, including one current streak.

·FRAMES BY THE NUMBERS – The Stars have out-shot their opponents in six of their first eight games this season, but they have struggled to turn their shots on goal advantages into goals on the scoreboard. So far this season Texas has the following breakdown of shots and goal-difference by period: First – Shots +16, Goals -2; Second – Shots -1, Goals -7, Third – Shots +28, Goals -3.